


Distant Lover

by mcgarrygirl78



Series: Gentleman Prefer Blondes [5]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Friendship, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-05
Updated: 2014-10-05
Packaged: 2018-02-20 00:45:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2408939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I'm supposed to be overindulging you and here I am picking a fight.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Distant Lover

Erin walked into her apartment on a rainy Thursday night, the last in September. She had been to dinner with Nora, hardly wanted the evening to end. Now she was home and checking her answering machine. Messages played while she dried out her umbrella in the powder room and slipped out of her high heels.

 **BEEP!** ‘ _Erin, its Ann Capshaw. I thought coffee next week would be great; there is much to discuss about Denver. Give me a call_.’

 **BEEP!** ‘ _Hello my darling, its Daddy. I haven’t spoken to you in over a week because your mother hogs the telephone. Call me soon, I've been thinking about you. I saw something today that reminded me of your childhood and want to talk. I love you_.’

Erin went into the kitchen. She put on the kettle and smiled at the sound of her father’s voice. She hadn’t meant for that much time to go by since talking to him. She called her parents every Sunday evening. Things in her life slipped but that never had. It was the way they did things since she went off to Bryn Mawr.

 **BEEP!** ‘ _Hey baby, I'm still in Atlanta. I miss you a lot so you should page me when you get this message. I promise to overindulge you; you know I'm good for it. Bye_.’

Now Erin smiled even more. Damn him but David Rossi swept her completely off her feet. To be sure, she still held her cards close to her chest. Their work kept them apart too much but Dave made it up to her every time. She grabbed the cordless phone from the kitchen wall, dialing his pager number. It beeped three times; Erin dialed her home number plus her code, 514 for the first day they met. She hung up and poured hot water over her chamomile tea bag.

Making her way into her bedroom, Erin opened her window and began to undress. She took off her red blazer and lifted the crème colored ribbed v-neck over her head. She grabbed the remote and turned on the television. It was almost time for _L.A. Law_. Erin usually didn’t care for new shows on television but Harry Hamlin was worth her attention when she had the time. When all her clothes were off, and in their appropriate places, Erin slipped into her pajamas. She was in the bathroom taking off her makeup when the phone rang.

“Hello.”

“You sound a little out of breath, are you alright?” Dave asked.

“You caught me in the middle of something.” She replied.

“What?”

“I'm taking off my makeup. I just came in a little while ago.”

She lay back on the bed watching commercials go by for everything from cars to upcoming shows in the week. Erin hated television; she didn’t know how anyone sat through so much of this crap. Harry Hamlin, she thought, yes that’s why. What she had on the phone had Harry beat by a country mile.

“Where were you tonight?”

“I worked until seven and then met Nora for dinner. We talked about you…I told her you were still Italian.”

“Last time I checked.” Dave said, laughing some. “What else did you two discuss?”

“Just best friend stuff. Nothing important, I just wanted to clear my mind. You know how busy work has been lately.”

“So that’s all you’ve been doing since I left four days ago?”

“When are you coming home?”

She hated to ask, didn’t want to seem as if she was waiting for him. Dammit, she was waiting for him. Erin missed him. If she could put it all into words she would but most of the time it was too complicated for her. Right now going with the flow was how it was going to have to be, even if Erin was never really a go with the flow type.

“I’ll probably be on a plane tomorrow. They have a couple of potential suspects and my job is pretty much done. There are other cases to work on.”

“It’s a bit scary that your job never ends.” Erin said.

“Scary but interesting.” Dave replied.

“No, I just think it’s scary.”

“What about you, baby? How's work?”

“Nathan and I are going to Barcelona next month for a week or so to finalize the Spanish satellite deal. This is going to be his last hurrah before retirement. He’s holding out on me; won't whisper in my ear that I'm his successor. A part of me is really ticked off about that but I understand. The king does not tell his children which will succeed him, for they’d surely make their ascension come quicker.”

“That’s a positive way to look at it. You're going to Spain together?”

“Yes.”

“Just the two of you?” Dave asked.

“Yes, David.”

“And how will you sleep?”

“With my eyes closed.” Erin said.

“Erin…”

“Ask the question, David.”

“I don’t want to ask the question.”

“OK, then don’t.”

“Are you staying in the same hotel room?” He asked.

“Absolutely not. You think I'm sleeping with my boss?”

“No. I just…I saw the way he looked at you. I saw the way he looked at me. You're a beautiful woman, an amazing woman; he might think…”

“I don’t care what he thinks, at least not about that. Look, Nathan and I have been close for four years now. We’ve traveled together and worked closely together but he’s a married man. And before you say something you regret, even by accident, I do not engage in extra-curricular activities with married men.”

“I didn’t…”

“It sounded like you did.” Erin cut him off.

“I did not.” Dave cleared his throat and took a deep breath. “I'm your boyfriend, Erin, and I may be a little uncomfortable with you going away for a week with a man. There, I said it. It’s an insecurity…I don’t like to broadcast it.”

“Do you really think I would be attracted to Nathan?”

“No. Sometimes though, when you think you know the person you care about, the craziest thing happens to prove you don’t.”

“We still have to learn about each other,” She said. “You said so yourself. #1, Nathan is my mentor, nothing more.”

“#2, sometimes I'm a jealous, insensitive ass.”

“Sometimes you're cute too. I guess nobody’s perfect.”

“We’re apart tonight, that’s bad enough.” Dave said. “We shouldn’t be fighting.”

“We’re not fighting.” Erin replied.

“I'm going to apologize anyway. I'm sorry. I don’t even know what I was trying to say or ask but I do know it came out wrong. I want you to go to Barcelona and knock their socks off. I'm supposed to be overindulging you and here I am picking a fight.”

“So, make it up to me.”

She relaxed against her pillows, sipping her tea. _L.A. Law_ was on now but it didn’t have her full attention. It didn’t have her attention at all.

“I hardly know where to start. What are you wearing, Erin Strauss?”

“Pajamas.” She said. “I'm all ready for bed…too bad I'm alone.”

“You're not alone, I'm always with you.”

“Well you're not with me with me.”

“Oh, but do you know what I’d do if I were?” Dave asked.

“I can guess and I would like it. I would love it. I miss you. Oh God.”

“What? That doesn’t sound good.”

“Stop making me feel this way.” She said.

“I don’t think I will. You're so beautiful when you glow, and you glow when you feel like this. You glow when I touch you.”

“Mmm, stop.”

“Stop? Really?”

“It’s not the same when you're not here.” Erin laughed. “When you come home can we have the whole weekend?”

“I'm not sure, my paperwork is piling up. We’ll have all of Saturday evening and Sunday.” Dave said. “Does that sound good?”

“It sounds perfect.”

“Can I apologize again for being an ass?”

“David, we all say things that cause friction. I just want to forget about it. I know you didn’t mean anything by it.”

Erin hoped he didn’t mean anything by it. She didn’t know how she felt thinking Dave could think she would do something like that. It was bad enough to assume she would just sleep with a married man if she was single but she was in a relationship as well. Wasn’t she? Thinking too much about it made her head hurt. It made her stomach hurt too.

“I need to make it up to you.” He said.

“What?” She came back to the conversation.

“Your silence speaks volume; it’s something I adore about you.”

“OK.”

“You're still upset with me.”

“We’ll talk about it when we’re face to face. Listen to me, David, we will not over talk about it. We’ll just talk about it. OK?”

“Yeah. You need to get some sleep.”

“I'm sure you do too. Sleep tight, have a safe trip home tomorrow.”

“Sweet dreams, Erin.” Dave hardly got her name out before he stopped talking.

“Hello? David?”

“I'm here, baby. I just…I can't wait to see you. It’ll be soon.”

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

She hung up the phone and stared off into space. Somewhere deep in her belly, the tears were there. For what reason she had no idea and Erin would surely not give them power over her. She hated crying, and wasn’t going to do it over a man. David Rossi might not be just any man but she wasn’t going to do it over him either.

They would work it out when he came home; it was difficult to discuss anything in depth over the phone. Maybe that was the issue. Too much of their relationship was long distance. It was ridiculous; they lived in the same town and had a long distance relationship. Between her work and his traveling, Erin spent more time on the phone than she ever imagined she would. This wasn’t what she wanted or planned. But could you really plan this?

Erin liked to think she was in complete control but there were still some things totally out of her hands. She didn’t have to like it but that wouldn’t change it. She either adapted or walked away from him. Even with tonight’s faux pas, walking away wasn’t something she was prepared to do. She cared for him too much. It hadn’t even been five months and she knew that.

The phone was still clutched in Erin’s hand. She wanted to call him back and tell him that. She wanted him to know how much he meant in such a short period of time. But Erin didn’t trust herself. She’d made mistakes before, feared she would do the same thing this time. She didn’t trust him either, and something about that filled her with guilt. Why, she had no idea as it was silly to trust a complete stranger after four months.

It was better to just go to bed. Hanging up the phone, she finished her tea, turned off the television, and went back into the bathroom. She needed rest; she had a 9:30 breakfast meeting with her team. Work called, life called, and everything else was going to have to take a backseat for a while. That included David Rossi and all the mixed feelings.

***

  



End file.
